engine and drivetrain head casting date...for me, a riddle

[billpatterson]

Hi there,

Please riddle me this. My '71 2002 was landed in NY NY in April '71 and was and sold shortly afterward in LA CA. I bought it 2 years ago in LA CA and imported it to Edmonton, Alberta, CAN for restoration. The seller said the engine was rebuilt and had 5K on it. There is no doubt it was rebuilt (new gaskets and paint visible). The part that is a riddle is that the head casting has a very new finish to it very unlike the finish on the head cover or timing chain cover. The casting is "84". I have also included pictures of the casting number and its like new finish. What does this mean?

Kindest regards,

Bill

[John_in_VA]

[M3M3]

count the dots, add the year. 7 dots = july. 84 = 1984.

clearly that is not the original head that came with the car. maybe new one when engine was rebuilt. makes you wonder why it had to be rebuild...massive overheat?

[billpatterson]

Hi Marshall,

If I take the head cover off...is there a way of telling if the whole head is new or the '84 cast was rebuilt with original parts?

Regards,

Bill

[HRDCRE74]

Bill,

Some guys like myself like to use later casting heads when I'm rebuilding a motor. I figure since I'm here I might as well update to a stronger and better head than using the older original heads. The rule of thumb for me is the later the casting the better. BMW made revisions on some of their heads as the years went on.

Hope that makes sense.

LT

[eastsidebimmer]

I have a factory rebuilt engine with an E12 head with a 1987 casting! For some time several head styles were still being produced but then I think they stopped with E12s. Most of the factory rebuilt engines I've seen pictures of here had 87 casting dates.

If your block has a VIN that matches the body, then the former owner simply decided to put on a new head during the rebuild instead off fuss with fixing the old one. If your engine stamp is a series of XXXXXX or starts with 20A or 21A or has a something other than a VIN you have a re-manufactured short engine from BMW. Your block may have a date casting too , check under the exhaust manifold.

[Guest Anonymous]

Hi Marshall,

If I take the head cover off...is there a way of telling if the whole head is new or the '84 cast was rebuilt with original parts?

Regards,

Bill

The head casting is the only part with a date stamp, so you probably won't be able to tell if 71 parts, 84 parts, or new parts were used in the rebuild.

[billpatterson]

Appreciated! No matter...it's working very well.

Regards

[fourtii]

Does the block have the original Vin # stamped on it? If it has no numbers on it, then you have a replacement long block with the year and month that was described earlier in this thread.

[billpatterson]

Hey Fourtii,

Thanks for the reply. I was wondering the same...the block's number matches the car. I guess either the casting or the entire head was replaced. No matter really...it works fine...not overly loud and compression test was good. Looking forward to putting it back in...

Regards